under pressure, Macron requires help

Declaration by the Prime Minister on December 5 at the National Assembly. Julien MUGUET for Le Monde

A request for help. On the eve of the new day of demonstration of "yellow jackets", Saturday 8 December, Emmanuel Macron asked Wednesday "To the political and trade union forces, employers make a clear and explicit appeal for calm", according to government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux, at the exit of the Council of Ministers. "The moment we live is no longer political opposition, but the Republic"continued the head of state in front of his troops.

A little later in the national assembly, Edouard Philippe launched his turn "A call to the responsibility of all the actors of the public debate, politicians, union leaders, editorialists, citizens". For the Prime Minister, "The stakes are the security of the French and our institutions".

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The government does not hide it, fears a new outbreak of violence on Saturday, like those that have swept Paris and elsewhere in France on 1st December. The head of state fears "Great violence" with "A hard core of thousands of people" who would come to Paris "To break and kill" according to the Elysée. A dramatization of power that comes as one of the media figures of "yellow jackets", Eric Drouet, called Wednesday night on BFM, to invest the Elysee.

The executive is also concerned about the emergence of other discontents that would become part of the challenge. Like those students or truckers on strike from December 9th, and farmers who should also get off the streets on December 10th. "The Prime Minister does not believe in his ability to extinguish the mobilization of "yellow jackets" but he hopes that his concessions will help to dissociate the movement's opinion ", reports an elected official who participated in the majority breakfast in Matignon, Tuesday, December 4.

There is not much left of the exercise of the power of Jupiter that the head of state had theorized to accomplish, during the first year of his five years, beating the reforms, without worrying about the intermediate bodies and without hesitating to humiliate the opposition. It is no longer the time to criticize "The slackers" who preceded him at Eliseo, neither "The cynics" who, at every level of the Republic, has spent more energy in maintaining their privileges than in the reform of the country. Here is the president forced by the road today, to give up his plans.